Change Dive Shop / Instructor?

[Doby45]

If there is one true consistency I have seen in my 18 years on ScubaBoard, it is that people assume that what they experienced in their scuba class is representative of what happens in all scuba classes.

But to add to that, I would also say that Scubaboard is a very small microcosm of the scuba world as a whole. Too many folk on here think that Scubaboard is the end all be all of the diving world and it ain't, by a LONG shot.

 

[Rickk]

But to add to that, I would also say that Scubaboard is a very small microcosm of the scuba world as a whole. Too many folk on here think that Scubaboard is the end all be all of the diving world and it ain't, by a LONG shot.

I have read stats that say about 80% of the people who get their OW end up only diving a few times a year, for about 8 years and leave diving before 100 dives. Most of the hard core posters here dive 100 times a year or more, then there are the instructors and DMs.

 

[Scraps]

I'm late to the conversation. A few thoughts:

Your instructor doesn't have to be great or be the best in the area as long as she is good enough to help you progress and enjoy the process of learning.

There is benefit to learning from other instructors and hearing another professional's areas of emphasis--eventually.

For now, though, it is unlikely she has taught all you can learn from her. Sticking with her through at least AOW is a reasonable course of action as long as you're continuing to learn and improve.

After AOW and maybe some specialty courses, there may come a time when you need to hear another voice. Some indications that it's time to learn under another instructor would be:

--You feel like subsequent courses are teaching similar information in similar ways and not exposing you to new ideas, information or techniques;

--Classes stop provoking your interest and curiosity, stop being fun, or don't seem aimed at preparing you for dive experiences you want to undertake;

--You want to learn a specialty that this instructor doesn't teach or isn't particularly interested in;

--You develop concerns about safety, professionalism, or integrity.

Until then, enjoy the healthy training relationship you have.

Best wishes,

 

[Akimbo]

I can find multiple opinions on almost any topic on the internet.

You seem like the kind of person that will investigate and analyze each lesson. IF that assumption is correct, you will learn far more after completing a class than in it. Stick with the instructor you are happy with and prepare so you can ask questions. Fire her or him if they don't like to deal with questions or give you crap about taking another class to learn it.

The objective is to understand the facts as we know them (which do not always prove correct over time) and the compromises that are made for any given technique. That will arm you to learn from experience. Opinion is of no value unless you understand the reasons that influence them.

 

[SlugLife]

I have read stats that say about 80% of the people who get their OW end up only diving a few times a year, for about 8 years and leave diving before 100 dives. Most of the hard core posters here dive 100 times a year or more, then there are the instructors and DMs.

I'd say 20 to 50 full-tank dives year is a fairly consistent diver. I'd say 100+ is more "hardcore" as it starts to become more of a full-time job, since you'd either be diving in the winter, or doing 4+ dives per week. That's unless you essentially lived next to a diving spot, were a commercial-diver, or had a lot of free-time.

(I say "full tank" because you can obviously do silly hacks like a bunch of 10 minute dives and say "look at my massive dive-log." At that point, just make up a number.)

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

As I said in another thread, it was seeing Discover Scuba students learn to dive faster than OW students that got me thinking.

They learn faster only because Scuba is easy and natural for most, and they are reasonably confident in confined water.

If you are not learning, if everything seems difficult, if there is no decent chemistry with your instructor, if your questions and concerns get blown off...then that is NOT the instructor for you.

Some students are not capable of keeping up with the demands of training, or are unprepared. Although, this is part of the problem and the solution. This is a computer-generated message. Do not reply.

OW is just your ticket to dive. After OW the learning starts.

Ticket to disaster for some.

Stick to your Instructor, be open with her, if you don't understand something ASK and then ASK AGAIN until you are sure you got it.

Grumpy Instructors are driven by money not empathy.

But to add to that, I would also say that Scubaboard is a very small microcosm of the scuba world as a whole.

Does this represent your Hermetic lifestyle? Since your input amounts to zero tolerance for others.

Your instructor doesn't have to be great or be the best in the area as long as she is good enough to help you progress and enjoy the process of learning.

The Instructor needs to be responsible for the welfare of their students.

 

[BoltSnap]

They learn faster only because Scuba is easy and natural for most, and they are reasonably confident in confined water.

Some students are not capable of keeping up with the demands of training, or are unprepared. Although, this is part of the problem and the solution. This is a computer-generated message. Do not reply.

Ticket to disaster for some.

Grumpy Instructors are driven by money not empathy.

Does this represent your Hermetic lifestyle? Since your input amounts to zero tolerance for others.

The Instructor needs to be responsible for the welfare of their students.

Robocop, subroutines were added to your firmware to be able to do multi-quote and reply recently?

Your responses as deliberate as they are, they are artificial and clearly machine generated. They so "clinical," they are artificial.

 

[BoltSnap]

Some students are not capable of keeping up with the demands of training, or are unprepared. Although, this is part of the problem and the solution. This is a computer-generated message. Do not reply.

"This is a computer-generated message. Do not reply."

A bug in your firmware showing up?

 

[wrxkyle]

the most important is finding a good instructor. a couple family members just did their advanced (padi) and got sold on a bunch of stuff like peak performance bouyancy, shark aware, reef cleanup etc despite my objections. now had the instructor been really solid and gone over the theory behind proper weighting, how different cyl's would affect that as well as start and end of dives, done weight checks and whatever that would have at least been good for them despite being info you can readily find yourself online. but she just did a basic hover in the water drill and had them knock over some weights in the sand with their regs... she wasn't very experienced and it showed. a better instructor would have been much more valuable.
if you feel your instructor is very competent AND a competent teacher I'd stick with them. if you find someone that would be better then go that direction. my opinion (as a not that experienced aow diver) is that the more technical you go the more important it is to have a good instructor, as the risks get higher.

 

[yle]

Grumpy Instructors are driven by money not empathy.

Oh my goodness... you know instructors that teach scuba for the money?? I've never met one. And I know a lot of instructors.